Patriots are aware of Falcons’ bite

ATLANTA — It was the inflection in Vince Wilfork’s voice that made what he was saying unusual.

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By
PAUL KENYON
Posted Sep. 28, 2013 @ 9:02 pm

ATLANTA — It was the inflection in Vince Wilfork’s voice that made what he was saying unusual.

The Patriots co-captain was holding his weekly meeting with reporters and, as usual, going into considerable detail about the challenge the Patriots will face Sunday night against the Falcons.

As he does every week, Wilfork was praising the opponent, insisting that the game would be a tough one. But this time, the emotion in his voice shifted in mid-sentence.

“It’s going to be rocking,” Wilfork said of the Georgia Dome. “It’s going to be a challenge for us to go on the road and play a really good football team. Receivers, tight ends, offensive line, everywhere you look they have weapons. … It’s going to be a big challenge for us.”

The change came when he got to the part about playing a really good football team. The tone made those words special. There was emphasis on the “really good football team.” It was as if he was telling everyone that yes, he and his teammates know what is happening this week. They know it is meaningful.

The Patriots are 3-0, but they have almost had to apologize for it because their opponents have been weak. The players have done all they could to convince everyone that they do not care about who they have beaten. The only thing that matters to them is that they have won every game.

With his words, though, Wilfork seemed to be acknowledging that the Patriots understand what everyone has been talking about. They might not like it, but they understand. Never mind the 1-2 record; Atlanta is truly a huge test, a measuring stick for any team, especially in the Georgia Dome. The Falcons have won 12 of their last 13 home games. Quarterback Matt Ryan is 34-5 in his career in the dome, the best home record of any quarterback in the NFC. For one of the rare times in recent seasons, the Patriots will enter as slight underdogs.

The two quarterbacks involved, Tom Brady and Ryan, have the best overall records of any quarterback in the league with at least 50 games. Brady is 139-39 (.781), the first quarterback to get 100 games over .500. Ryan is second at 57-24, a .704 winning percentage. Both teams advanced to the conference championship games last season.

“It’s going to be a challenge for our defense; it’s a challenge for our offense,” is the way Brady described the assignment. “I think we have to play our best game, there’s no doubt about it. You can’t (go three-and-out). If you (repeat) what happened last week with us, (when) we had three three-and-outs to start the game, it could be 21-0. That’s the way (the Falcons) play. We have to be able to start fast. We have to put points on the board. We have to get people in the end zone. Obviously the critical plays like turnovers, critical third downs, scoring opportunities in the red area are all going to be crucial to winning the game.”

In some ways, the Falcons could be called the Patriots of the NFC. In a conference where the best teams recently — San Francisco, Seattle and the Giants — have been defensively oriented, Atlanta more often than not has won by outscoring opponents. The Falcons have a great passing attack with Ryan at the controls, Tony Gonzalez back at tight end and Roddy White and Julio Jones outside. There is no chance the Falcons will be less than totally focused. They have not lost two consecutive games since late in the 2009 season. A loss would mean having as many defeats as the team had all last season.

Coach Mike Smith is trying not to let his team get too high.

“Well, this is the most important game for us because it is the next one,” he said. “You’re guaranteed 16 opportunities and you want to make the best out of each opportunity. I think everybody in this league has that same mindset where the next game is the most important one.”

“Absolutely not,” he responded when asked if the 1-2 start his team has had makes this one more important. “You can’t concern yourself with anything but this game, and that is the mindset that we take each and every week. We’ve doing it that way since we’ve been here, and we will continue to do it that way.”

Altanta will be without Steven Jackson, the former Ram who was brought in this year. Jackson is out with a hamstring problem. That just makes it more likely that the Falcons will fill the air with Ryan throwing to Jones, White and Gonzalez. The Patriots certainly expect it.

“You know they want to throw the ball. I’m defending the run on the way to the quarterback,” defensive tackle Tommy Kelly said. “These guys want to throw the ball. They want to make big plays. They want to get the ball in Julio (Jones) and Roddy White’s hands.

“I’m putting all my eggs in that basket,” Kelly said.

Chandler Jones agrees that the Pats cannot afford to let Ryan sit back and pick them apart.

“He’s a good quarterback,” Jones said. “You don’t want him sitting back there without any pressure and just having seven on seven. You want to go back there and move him off the spot a little bit.”

Ryan likes having both Jones and White.

“I think both those guys are dynamic players, and both at different times have carried our football team,” he said. “Depending on how teams choose to match up against us, one of those guys usually finds single coverage, and we feel like with those guys that we match up well week in and week out when they face single coverage.

“Roddy has been around doing it for a long time, a perennial Pro Bowler and one of the better players in the league, certainly one of the best receivers in the league, and Julio I think is a guy that’s coming into his own as a player,” Ryan said. “He’s playing at an extremely high level, incredibly gifted physically, certainly plays the ball really well, has a knack for making big plays, so I’m lucky to have both of those guys around me.”